Chelsea secures first victory under Enzo Maresca with 2-0 win over Servette in Conference League

Chelsea earned their first win under new coach Enzo Maresca with a 2-0 victory against Servette in the first leg of their Conference League play-off round on Thursday.

Despite struggling to break down their Swiss opponents in the first half at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea took the lead when Christopher Nkunku converted a penalty in the 50th minute, marking his fourth goal for the club.

Noni Madueke then doubled the advantage, finishing a pass from Enzo Fernandez to put Chelsea in a strong position ahead of next week’s second leg.

Servette came close to pulling one back late in the game, with Tiemoko Ouattara’s deflected shot hitting the crossbar.

The win was a much-needed boost for the Blues, following a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in Maresca’s debut match last weekend.

Chelsea’s return to European competition comes after finishing sixth in the Premier League last season under Mauricio Pochettino.

Elsewhere in the competition, Panathinaikos suffered a 2-1 defeat at Lens, Fiorentina drew 3-3 with Puskas Akademia despite a challenging debut for David de Gea, and Irish club St Patrick’s held Istanbul Basaksehir to a goalless draw.

In the Europa League play-offs, Ajax secured a 4-1 win over Jagiellonia, thanks to a hat-trick from Chuba Akpom, while Besiktas squandered a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 with Lugano.

Hearts, however, fell to a 1-0 defeat against Viktoria Plzen.